DMK and Congress spar over delimitation amid Centre’s push
The DMK and the Congress sparred publicly over delimitation on Monday, trading charges of “petty politics” and political opportunism, at a time when the Centre is making renewed efforts to build support for a contentious legislation on redrawing Lok Sabha constituencies by reaching out to opposition parties and NDA constituents.
The spat comes days after a meeting of Tamil Nadu MPs convened by ruling TVK founder and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to oppose delimitation, which the Congress attended but the DMK boycotted.
DMK MP and its Lok Sabha Deputy Leader Dayanidhi Maran questioned on X why the Congress is putting up a “No Delimitation” front only in Tamil Nadu while remaining silent in the four States where it is in power.
“Why is the Congress staging a No Delimitation drama only in Tamil Nadu?” Maran said, asking whether the party would question Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who has advocated a hybrid model for the exercise in the past.
Maran also questioned the Congress’s participation in the TVK-convened MPs’ meeting, calling it a political spectacle.
“A party that cannot articulate a clear and consistent position on delimitation has no moral authority to preach to Tamil Nadu. What the Congress is indulging in here is nothing more than petty politics,” the DMK leader said. “The people of Tamil Nadu will not be taken in by the theatrics of a reels-driven party that functions as the Congress party’s proxy Government,” he added.
Congress’s Lok Sabha MP from Telangana’s Bhongir, Kiran Kumar Chamala, considered close to Reddy, hit back at Maran, accusing him of “distorting facts” and asserting that his party’s position against population-based delimitation has not changed.
Chamala said Reddy had attended a conference of southern chief ministers and political leaders convened by DMK leader MK Stalin as a chief minister and “categorically opposed population-based delimitation”.
“The Congress position is absolutely clear: South Indian states that successfully implemented family planning must not be punished by losing their rightful parliamentary representation,” Chamala said in a post on X.
Reddy had earlier proposed a “hybrid model” under which a state’s economic contribution, measured through the GSDP, would be given equal weightage with population in determining representation.
Chamala also hit out at the DMK’s criticism of the Congress, suggesting that the regional party’s own political positioning has changed.
“But I see that you have changed your position. Perhaps you want to be closer to your new political friend -- that is your choice and not our problem. But please do not spread lies and misinformation about our Chief Minister Revanth Anna or misrepresent the Congress position,” he said.
The exchange assumes significance against the backdrop of a widening political rift between the DMK and the Congress in Tamil Nadu.
The two parties were allies in the southern state before the Assembly polls held earlier in the year, but their relationship broke down after the Congress chose to ally with the TVK, which formed the Government in Tamil Nadu.
The DMK subsequently walked out of the Congress-led INDIA bloc and sought separate seating arrangements for its MPs in Parliament.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre, meanwhile, has stepped up efforts to revive the delimitation exercise after its earlier attempt to pass the legislation failed to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. However, there are no indications so far that the Bill would be introduced afresh during the remaining three days of the Monsoon Session.